The Fascinating and Complex Dynamics of Geyser Eruptions

Abstract

Geysers episodically erupt liquid and vapor. Despite two centuries of scientific study, basic questions persist-why do geysers exist? What determines eruption intervals, durations, and heights? What initiates eruptions? Through monitoring eruption intervals, analyzing geophysical data, taking measurements within geyser conduits, performing numerical simulations, and constructing laboratory models, some of these questions have been addressed. Geysers are uncommon because they require a combination of abundant water recharge, magmatism, and rhyolite flows to supply heat and silica, and large fractures and cavities overlain by low-permeability materials to trap rising multiphase and multicomponent fluids. Eruptions are driven by the conversion of thermal to kinetic energy during decompression. Larger and deeper cavities permit larger eruptions and promote regularity by isolating water from weather variations. The ejection velocity may be limited by the speed of sound of the liquid + vapor mixture.

Anatomy of Old Faithful From Subsurface Seismic Imaging of the Yellowstone Upper Geyser Basin

“…With a porosity of ~30%, we estimate the volume of the reservoir to be around ~300,000 m 3 . This estimate is much larger than the estimated 20–40 m 3 per single Old Faithful eruption (Allen & Day, ; Kieffer, ), consistent with the assumption that only a small portion of the fluid within the entire hydrothermal plumbing system is involved in each eruption (Hurwitz & Manga, ). According to an earlier tracer experiment (Fournier, ), Old Faithful geyser requires at least 24 eruptions to clear the tracer within its directly connected plumbing system.…”

“…Detailed knowledge of the subsurface structure and geyser fluid are important to understand the hydrothermal fluid migration and geyser eruption mechanism (Hurwitz & Manga, ; Hurwitz et al, ; Husen et al, ; Karlstrom et al, ; Marler & White, ; Munoz‐Saez et al, ; Rudolph & Sohn, ; Vandemeulebrouck et al, ). However, the 3‐D subsurface structure of the UGB/Old Faithful hydrothermal system remain largely unconstrained because of the sensitive environmental setting of the Upper Geyser Basin which prevented the implementation of active source seismic imaging around the geyser.…”

Illuminating the Voluminous Subsurface Structures of Old Faithful Geyser, Yellowstone National Park

“…Wu et al () estimated a fluid volume for the reservoir of approximately 300,000 m 3 ; although this value is not well constrained, it is about 4 orders of magnitude greater than the estimated volume of water in a single Old Faithful eruption, 38–45 m 3 (Allen & Day, ) or 14–32 m 3 (Kieffer, ). This is consistent with several other observations that imply that the volumes of geyser reservoirs and fracture complexes are significantly larger than the volumes of water discharged during a single eruption (Hurwitz & Manga, ). However, because large variation in compressional and shear wave velocity associated with the liquid‐vapor phase transition (Ito et al, ) and the predicted large phase and pressure changes within the reservoir (Rudolph & Sohn, ), the calculated reservoir volumes have a large uncertainty.…”

Eruption Interval Monitoring at Strokkur Geyser, Iceland

“…At Stromboli volcano a detailed analysis suggests that single bursts, pulsations, and multiple eruptions happen (Ripepe et al, 2013). Therefore, the study of the dynamics and interdependencies of geyser eruptions may also improve the understanding of how volcanoes work (Kieffer, 1984;Hurwitz & Manga, 2017).…”